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Historic church bombed in Iraq before Christmas eve services

Baghdad – A bomb killed one person and damaged a historic church north of Baghdad on Wednesday (December 23, 2009), one day ahead of Christmas Eve services that will be heavily guarded for fear of more attacks on Iraq’s Christian minority.
 
The bomb was hidden in a handcart near the Mar Toma Church, also known as Church of St. Thomas, in the city of Mosul, a police officer said. It is one of Mosul’s older churches, dating to A.D. 770.
 
The officer said one passer-by was killed and five others were injured in the explosion. A hospital official confirmed the casualties.  Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.
 
The extent of the damage to the church was not immediately clear. The blast occurred in an area where streets have been closed to cars and trucks to protect Mosul’s dwindling Christian population.
 
Iraqi defense officials warned earlier in the week that intelligence reports pointed to attacks during Christmas, leading the government to step up security near churches and Christian neighborhoods.
 
Most of the increased security will be in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk, said Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari.

(Source: AP)

Survey: Barna releases year-end observations for 2009

CA – The Barna Group has just released four themes they see from their research in 2009.  Barna Research Group was founded by George and Nancy Barna in 1984. As a marketing research firm, it primarily served Christian ministries, non-profit organizations and various media and financial corporations. During its quarter century of service, TBG has carefully and strategically tracked the role of faith in America, developing the nation’s most comprehensive database on spiritual indicators.

Theme 1: Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.
“Faith remains a hot topic in America these days,” George Barna commented, expanding on the theme. “Politicians, athletes, cultural philosophers, teachers, entertainers, musicians – nearly everyone has something to say about faith, religion, spirituality, morality, and belief these days. But as the fundamental values and assumptions of our nation continue to shift, so do our ideas about faith and spirituality. Many of our basic assumptions are no longer firm or predictable.

…

“Our studies consistently demonstrate – as explained in unChristian, the book by my colleague, David Kinnaman – that being a Christian or associating with the Christian faith is not as attractive to Americans as it used to be…

…

Some of the related survey results Barna cited from this year’s studies included:

• Just 50% of adults contend that Christianity is still the automatic faith of choice in the US
• Nearly nine out of every ten adults (88%) agreed either strongly or somewhat that their religious faith is very important in their life
• 74% said their faith is becoming more important in their life
• Substantive awareness of other faith groups is minimal; even simple name awareness of some groups, such as Wicca, is tiny (only 45% have heard of Wicca)
• Most self-identified Christians are comfortable with the idea that the Bible and the sacred books from non-Christian religions all teach the same truths and principles
• Half of all adults (50%) argue that a growing number of people they know are tired of having the same church experience

Theme 2: Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. Americans are comfortable with an altered spiritual experience as long as they can participate in the shaping of that faith experience.

“Now that we are comfortable with the idea of being spiritual as opposed to devoutly Christian,” Barna pointed out, “Americans typically draw from a broad treasury of moral, spiritual and ethical sources of thought to concoct a uniquely personal brand of faith. Feeling freed from the boundaries established by the Christian faith, and immersed in a postmodern society which revels in participation, personal expression, satisfying relationships, and authentic experiences, we become our own unchallenged spiritual authorities, defining truth and reality as we see fit.”

Some of the survey findings that related to this theme included:

• About half of all adults (45%) say they are willing to try a new church or even a new form of church
• 71% say they will develop their own slate of religious beliefs rather than accept a package of beliefs promoted by a church or denomination
• Barely one-third of self-identified Christians (36%) strongly agree that it is important for followers of Christ to maintain positive relationships with people who are not Christians
• Two-thirds of adults (64%) are willing to experience and express their faith in new or different environments or structures than they have in the past
• Only one-third (34%) believe in absolute moral truth

Theme 3: Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S.

Barna’s findings related to Bible knowledge and application indicate that little progress, if any, is being made toward assisting people to become more biblically literate.

“Bible reading has become the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism. When people read from the Bible they typically open it, read a brief passage without much regard for the context, and consider the primary thought or feeling that the passage provided. If they are comfortable with it, they accept it; otherwise, they deem it interesting but irrelevant to their life, and move on. There is shockingly little growth evident in people’s understanding of the fundamental themes of the scriptures and amazingly little interest in deepening their knowledge and application of biblical principles.

…

Some of the survey-based results that led Barna to his conclusions included the following:

• Less than one out of every five born again adults (19%) has a biblical worldview, which is unchanged in the past 15 years
• Just half of all self-identified Christians firmly believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles (not the facts, just the principles) that it teaches
• Barely one-quarter of adults (27%) are confident that Satan exists
• An overwhelming majority of self-identified Christians (81%) contend that spiritual maturity is achieved by following the rules in the Bible

Theme 4: Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality – conducted personally or through a church – is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future.

“There are two levels on which evaluation of where we stand spiritually can take place,” noted the California-based author. “There can be external measurement, such as that conducted by pastors, teachers, coaches or peers, and there can be self-evaluation. At the moment, we’re seeing very little of either form of review related to a person’s spiritual condition.

“Not surprisingly,” he continued, “our research found that a majority of churchgoing adults are uncertain as to what their church would define as a ‘healthy, spiritually mature follower of Christ’ and they were no more likely to have personally developed a clear notion of such a life.

“It may well be that spiritual evaluation is so uncommon because people fear that the results might suggest the need for different growth strategies or for more aggressive engagement in the growth process. No matter what the underlying reason is, the bottom line among both the clergy and laity was indifference toward their acknowledged lack of evaluation. That suggests there is not likely to be much change in this dimension in the immediate future. In other words, as we examine the discipleship landscape, what we see is what we get – and what we will keep getting for some time.”

(Source: The Barna Group – The Barna Group (which includes its research division, Barna Research Group) was started in 1984 by George Barna. It is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization that conducts primary research on a wide range of issues and products, produces resources pertaining to cultural change, leadership and spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna conducts and analyzes primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org). Additional research-based resources, both free and at discounted prices, are also available through that website.)

Study: The State of religion…

WASHINGTON - Mississippi is the America’s most religious state, according to a Pew Forum study on the levels of devotion in America, which asked respondents whether religion is important in their lives. Eighty-two percent of Mississipians said ‘yes’ compared to 47% of Wisconsinites. The combined populations of New Hampshire/Vermont ranked last in the survey.

“That is not too surprising,” said William F. Lawhead, chairman of the religion and philosophy department at the University of Mississippi. “This is the Bible Belt. We are primarily made up of small towns . . . so most of the people are homegrown.”

The state is overwhelmingly Christian, he added, although an influx of Vietnamese immigrants who are involved in the state’s coastal fishing industry has brought in Buddhist adherents.

Alabama and Arkansas (both at 74 percent), Louisiana (72 percent), Tennessee (71 percent) and South Carolina (70 percent) follow. Noted among the least-religious with New Hampshire and Vermont are Alaska (37 percent) and Massachusetts (40 percent), which confirms other recent surveys that say New England is the “new Northwest” in terms of unchurched multitudes.

The Pacific Northwest used to be the country’s least-churched sector, but Oregon (seventh from the bottom at 46 percent) and Washington (11th from the bottom at 48 percent), have risen in the rankings.

The poll was released Monday (Dec 21, 2009) with data drawn from the Forum’s 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of 35,556 U.S. residents. It has an error margin of 0.6 percent.

The Survey

Respondents were asked four questions about:

1.  the importance of religion in their lives
2. their frequency of attendance at worship services
3. frequency of daily prayer
4. and absolute certainty of belief in God.

Mississippi polled highest on all four questions.  On the attendance question, 33% of Wisconsinites stated that they attend religious services weekly.   Mississippians polled at 60 percent.  Heavily Mormon Utah (57 percent) placed second with South Carolina (54 percent) rounding the top three.

Alaska is at the bottom of this list, with only 22 percent of respondents saying they attend weekly. New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine polled next highest at 23 percent.

Ed Vatagliano, research director for the American Family Association in Tupelo, pointed out that Mississippi’s 3 million residents are more likely to have been raised in church.  “Part of it is tradition,” he said. “My kids and all their friends are in church on Sunday. That’s the expectation. If you are a politician down here, you’re expected to have a church track record.”

On the question about frequency of daily prayer, Wisconsin ranked 38th with 49% indicating tha they pray at least once daily.  Mississippi occupied the top spot at 77 percent, followed by Louisiana at 76 percent and Alabama at 73 percent. Maine, at 40 percent, occupied the lowest rung, followed by Massachusetts and Alaska, each at 41 percent.

The fourth question, measuring percentage of those who believe in God, had Wisconsin at 34 with 68% answering ‘yes’ when asked whether they had absolute certainty in their beliefe in God.  Mississipians again ranked at the top at 91 percent, followed by South Carolina and Alabama at 86 percent. States with the lowest belief in God are New Hampshire and Vermont at 54 percent and Connecticut and Rhode Island at 57 percent.

For more details and information on this survey and the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, visit http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=504.

(Soource: Pew Reserach Center)

Oral Roberts passes at 91 in California

TULSA - Many in the world are mourning the passing of pastor, healer, innovator and religious icon Oral Roberts, who died Tuesday (December 15, 2009) in Newport Beach, California at the age of 91 from complications of pneumonia a day after he was hospitalized following a fall at his home in California.

“Oral Roberts was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known,” said Oral’s son, Richard Roberts. “A modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, an author, educator, evangelist, prophet, and innovator, he was the only man of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical school.”

Evangelist Billy Graham issued a statement stating,  “Oral Roberts was a man of God, and a great friend in ministry.  I loved him as a brother.  We had many quiet conversations over the years.  I invited Oral to speak at one of our early international conferences on evangelism held in Berlin in the 1960’s.  Oral was preceded in death by his wonderful wife Evelyn, who I also knew and loved.  She was a woman of God, and a powerful prayer warrior.  Just three weeks ago, I was privileged to talk to Oral over the telephone.  During the short conversation, he said to me that he was near the end of his life’s journey.  I look forward to the day that I will see Oral and Evelyn Roberts again in Heaven–our eternal home.”

Roberts established Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA), a Pentecostal ministry, which in turn founded Oral Roberts University in 1963 which Roberts served as the school’s president until 1993 and trustee until his death.  GuideStar reports OREA “produces 52 weekly television and radio programs, and 260 daily television programs to help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the United States and throughout the world. These programs reach an estimated 800,000 people per week.”

In May 2009, the Oklahoma Legislature honored Roberts with a resolution honoring his life. He spoke to lawmakers of his mission and his legacy.  “I’ll soon be going home to my heavenly father,” Roberts said on this occasion. “I look forward to that with great peace and joy. Leaving behind my legacy to bless people.”

Born on January 24, 1918, the fifth and youngest child of Reverend Ellis Melvin Roberts and Claudia Priscilla Irwin, Roberts grew up in southern Oklahoma. After finishing high school, Roberts studied for two years each at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University. In 1938 he married a preacher’s daughter, Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock.  Leaving college before completing his degree, Roberts became an itinerant preacher, taking over his father’s ministry and expanding it to millions of people in tent revivals, healing the sick and saving troubled lives.  Eventually, the tents gave way to airwaves — broadcasting on radio and television.

In the early 60s, he broke even more ground, building Oral Roberts University in South Tulsa and later built the City of Faith Medical and Research Cente, intended to merge prayer and medicine in the healing process.

Two Roberts children are still living — son Richard, a well-known evangelist and former president of Oral Roberts University (ORU), and daughter Roberta Potts, an attorney.  Oral Roberts was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Evelyn, on May 4, 2005, ,and two of his children, Rebecca in 1977 and Ronald in 1982.

Memorial Service will be held at the ORU Mabee Center, in Tulsa Oklahoma on Monday, December 21, 2009 at 2:00PM.

(Sources:  Oral Roberts Evangelistic Assn, Oral Roberts University, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Oral Roberts Minstries, Oklahoma news outlets, Wikipedia)

Survey: Female pastors double over past decade

USA — The Barna Group, a Christian research organization, found that there are twice as many female senior pastors as a decade ago, jumping from 5 percent to 10 percent.  A little more than 600 pastors were surveyed, matching the sample size of an identical study done in 1999.

Fifty-eight percent of women in the overall pastorate belong to mainline Protestant denominations such as the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

60 Christian houses in Pakistan reduced to ashes by chemical bombs over blasphemy accusation

PAKISTAN – In another shocking display of violence in Pakistan, Islamists set ablaze some 60 Christian houses in Korian village in Toba Tek Singh district on Thursday, July 30, 2009, at 9:00 pm local time after a blasphemy accusation was leveled against a young Christian boy, Imran Masih, and his father Talib Masih.

A house torched by Muslims

Eye-witnesses told ANS they could still see plumes of smoke rising from some houses of the village today (Friday, July 31.)

The trouble began for the Christian residents of Korian when Talib, a Christian vendor ignorantly brought home a piece of paper that had Quranic verses written on it, along with some other rough papers.

Talib’s children innocently ripped apart the paper not understanding its contents.

When some local Muslims found the torn pieces of paper, the anti-Christian hostility spread like a wildfire in the village.

Imran, one of the blasphemy-accused

Living up to their reputation of penalizing so-called “blasphemers”, local Muslim clerics accused the father and son of committing blasphemy and made inflammatory statements against the blasphemy-accused and incited Muslim residents of Korian and adjoining villages to attack the Christians of the village to avenge alleged blasphemy.

Some 500 Muslims from nearby villages ere armed with firearms and explosives, and they attacked the Christians of the village. The residents fled to safety as Muslim clerics announced their verdict to “kill the blasphemers.”

The chemical used by the mob to set fire to exclusively Christian homes was so inflammable that it utterly destroyed the targeted houses. The also stole abandoned cattle.

On hearing of the incident, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Minorities, rushed to the scene and ordered the police and local administration to arrest the culprits.

Talking to ANS from the village Korian, the Minister termed the attack as a “heinous crime” against Christians.

Mr. Bhatti went on to say, “It is a worst act of violence against minorities. The perpetrators, instigators and attackers should be arrested for actions against the Anti-Terrorism Act.

“We will protect the lives and properties of minorities and the Christian community. We won’t allow any miscreant or extremist to target our Christian brethren.

“Pakistani minorities are not conquered subjects or a sacred trust of anyone. They have same dignity and honor in this country as anyone else. We will protect their honor and respect.”

Criticizing Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy Laws, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti said that the laws are being “widely misused to victimize minorities and innocent people of Pakistan.”

This law, he said is a “tool in the hands of the extremists and miscreants to harass the minorities and settle personal scores.”

(Source: ASSIST News Service)

CA House Church Says Church Building Got in the Way of Discipleship

ORANGE COUNTY CA — A recent study by The Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary and Leadership Network found that nearly half of megachurch attendees say they never volunteer at church and 32 percent say they give little or no money to the church.

But, house church organizer Ken Eastburn of The Well isn’t blaming megachurches for this finding. While he acknowledges the sheer size of megachurches may allow spectator Christians to more easily worship anonymously alongside active, engaged Christians, Eastburn cautions other church leaders not to miss what he sees as the deeper message from the study.

“Every church has spectator Christians in attendance and being a disciple of Jesus isn’t for spectators,” Eastburn asserts. He believes the core lesson from the study is that a church of any size can become complacent about challenging its members to deeper personal relationships with Jesus Christ. “It is a painful reminder,” he continues, “that every church must never neglect its basic purpose – making disciples.”

Getting back to the basics was one of reasons The Well, once a traditional Southern Baptist church, left its building in 2005 to begin meeting in houses. “For us, our building was standing in the way of our call to building and growing the body of Christ,” according to Eastburn. The Well now meets in homes across Orange County, Calif. and is openly learning what it means to be a network of house churches. “We believe this house church model encourages a greater level of engagement with one another and God. And, we’re learning new things every day.” The Well shares on-line at www.leavethebuilding.com.

Elmbrook Church OK’d To Hold Grad Ceremonies

U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert for the Eastern District in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE – For nine years, the Elmbrook School District has held high school graduations at Elmbrook Church.  Yesterday (6/2/2009), U.S. District Judge Charles Clevert delivered his decision permitting the public school district to continue using the church’s facilities, stating from the bench, “A ceremony in the church does not necessarily constitute a church ceremony.”

In April, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the lawsuit in federal court in Milwaukee on behalf of a graduating senior and several others who were not named.  The organization sought to prevent the Elmbrook School District from holding the graduations of Brookfield Central and Brookfield East High Schools on June 6th and 7th.

In defending their choice of the nondenominational, evangelical church at Elmbrook for the seculat ceremonies, school officials and attorneys  identified the church’s 3200-person seating as convenient and comfortable, despite the presence of Christian symbols which include a large cross over the platform where graduates will receive diplomas.